🐙 Cell & Organismal Biology
Collector Urchin
The collector urchin (Tripneustes gratilla) is a sea urchin of tropical seagrass beds that covers itself with bits of shell, algae and debris. It is harvested for its roe in the Philippines and elsewhere.
The collector urchin (Tripneustes gratilla) is a sea urchin of tropical seagrass beds that covers itself with bits of shell, algae and debris. It is harvested for its roe in the Philippines and elsewhere.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Collector Urchin in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Deuterostomia lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Dressing Up
The urchin uses its tube feet to hold fragments on its upper surface. This may camouflage it, protect it from sunlight and hide it from predators.
A Seagrass Grazer
It eats seagrass and algae. Overgrazing by dense urchins can damage seagrass beds. See Neptune Grass.
Farmed and Fished
The urchin has been cultured, and its gonads are sold as food. See Purple Rock Urchin.
Collector Urchin at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Tripneustes gratilla |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Echinodermata |
| Class | Echinoidea |
| Order | Camarodonta |
| Family | Toxopneustidae |
| Field Guide group | Deuterostomia: Echinodermata (Sea Stars & Allies) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Globe-shaped Indo-Pacific reef grazer with five dark purple-black radial bands alternating with orange-and-white spine zones, using tube feet and venomous pedicellariae to hold shells, coral rubble, and seaweed as camouflage. |
| Class | Echinoidea |
| Habit | Covers itself with debris |
See Also
- Purple Rock Urchin — a Mediterranean urchin
- Neptune Grass — a seagrass it grazes
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